Crossing the Rubicon
by The All Real Numbers Symbol
Summary: Shadow is accused of a crime he claims did not commit. But Sonic and G.U.N. saw him at the crime scene. Now, with the help of his freinds, Shadow is going to try to prove himself innocent. Now rewritten and better than ever.
1. The Crime That He Commited

**Crossing the Rubicon**

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**8-24-09 Edit:** Well, after thinking it over, I've decided to go back and redo this story. It's got lots of potential, but too many OCs. I'd been on FFN for more than a year when I started this, so I can't believe I did that. At least I can go back and fix it. So proceed with caution, it'll be a somewhat bumpy ride until I get done. Thanks to everyone who reviewed the horrible first edition.

**Disclaimer:** Shadow the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog, Knuckles the Echidna, Miles "Tails" Prower, the Chaos Emeralds, and anything else belonging to Sega that I forgot to list belongs to, well, Sega.

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About 60 B.C. in ancient Rome, Julius Caesar led his army across the Rubicon River, declaring war on Pompey and the Senate by that act. Since then "crossing the Rubicon" refers to making a fateful choice from which there is no turning back

* * *

_The town was burning when Sonic arrived. He stopped for a moment, shocked. How did this happen? Then he noticed something. A black hedgehog. It looked like- Yes, it was Shadow. Sonic was sure that Shadow would help him save as many people as he could. And the Guardian Unit of Nations was landing helicopters nearby, sending soldiers to help the citizens._

_As Sonic watched though, Shadow pulled out his gun and shot a person who was fleeing the city. _

"_Shadow!" Sonic's cry was half scream. What was Shadow doing?_

_Shadow ignored the blue hedgehog's cry and continued shooting the inhabitants of the town. _

_The soldiers stopped behind Sonic. "What is he doing?" One of them asked. Sonic barely heard him. Shadow was a hero; he would never shoot people in cold blood- would he?_

"_Stop!" Sonic raced towards Shadow, but he was to late: Shadow warped away._

_Sonic stopped and looked around. Shadow didn't reappear; he was gone. "How could you do this?" He whispered. "How could you?"_

* * *

Shadow stretched and yawned, then slipped his feet into his hover shoes and headed downstairs. He headed downstairs, stopped in the kitchen to get a glass of juice, and then headed out side.

Shadow liked living on the shores of the lake. There was no one out here beside one family, and they lived on the other side of the lake.

Suddenly his reverie was broke by the drone of helicopters over head.

He looked up and saw at least fifteen G.U.N. helicopters hovering overhead.

"Shadow the Hedgehog," A soldier said through a bullhorn. "You are under arrest…"

Shadow summoned his Chaos Emerald and warped away, not waiting to hear the rest of the sentence.

* * *

Shadow reappeared on Green Hill a moment later, and was surprised to see Sonic there. But what was even more surprising was the look of pure hatred on Sonic's face.

"Sonic, what's wrong?" Shadow asked.

"What's wrong?" Sonic repeated. "What's wrong? How could you?" The venom in Sonic's voice was obvious. "How could you stand there in cold blood and shoot those people down?"

He advanced threateningly.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Shadow said as he took a step back.

Sonic raced forward and kicked Shadow in the stomach, winding him. As Shadow slumped to the ground, unable to catch his breath, Sonic spun around and hit him with a Sonic Wind, knocking him back down the hill.

As Sonic came towards him again, Shadow grabbed his Chaos Emerald and gasped, "Chaos Control."

The scene shifted and changed, and Shadow was standing in the Guardian Unit of Nations building.

The commander was waiting for him, along with a group of G.U.N. soldiers. "Shadow, I believe you have some explaining to do. Why did you attack the citizens of the town Defell last night?"

Shadow gave him an exasperated look. "Why don't you people believe me when I say I have no idea what you are talking about?"

"Sonic and some of the Guardian Unit of Nations soldiers saw you there, attacking the populace. I want to know why." The commander continued.

"I have no idea what you are talking about." Shadow insisted. "I was at home last night."

A soldier who Shadow didn't recognize stepped forward. "Shadow the Hedgehog; I have orders to place you under arrest."

Shadow turned and ran.

The commander turned to his soldiers. "Don't let him get away."

Shadow raced down the hall, hearing the soldier's footsteps behind him, when suddenly he came to a dead stop, finding more soldiers standing in front of him.

"Shadow the hedgehog, you are under arrest." One of them repeated. "Surrender immediately." As he stood there, more soldiers came up behind him, effectively blocking any conventional methods of escape.

"There's no way you can get out."

**To Be Continued…**

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**T.A.R.N.S.:** So there you have it.. The historical note at the top was modified from _World History for Christian Schools_, copyright 1999 Bob Jones University Press.

**Nyoshi:** Please review the story and tell us what you thought.

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**Edit:** Well, there's the first chapter. I hope it's an improvement.


	2. But No One Believes Me

**Crossing the Rubicon**

**Chapter 2**

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**8-25-09 Edit:** And onto chapter two we go. Hopefully you've already begun to see some improvement.

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"Fire!" Shadow rolled out of the way as the soldiers fired at him. He jumped to his feet, and with well placed kicks and punches, defeated them, leaving them unconscious but not dead.

He turned and raced out of the room, then stopped and looked for his Chaos Emerald. It was gone; he must have lost it somehwere during his escape. He would have spent some time looking for it, but he heard more soldiers coming up behind him.

"There his is! Get him!"

Shadow turned and ran, but blocking the other end of the hallway was none other than Capt. Westwood.

"Going somewhere?" Westwood asked.

Shadow looked around. He was blocked from both ends of the hallway, again, and had no Chaos Emerald. There was one way, though.

Quickly making his decision, he turned and jumped through a window in the hall, shattering it.

He turned in mid-air and landed on his feet, then took off running.

**XXXXXX**

Captain Westwood walked to the commander's office. The little vermin had gotten away, and did not look forward to telling the commander that.

The man was sitting behind his desk when Westwood entered. "He got away." The captain said, without giving him a chance to speak.

"I want an A.P.B. on him, and I want every Police officer and soldier to be on the lookout for him." The Commander said. "I don't want anymore repeats of what happened at Defell last night."

"I understand, Commander."

"Then what are you still standing there for? Get to work."

**XXXXXX**

_**Location:**__ Tails' workshop, Mystic Ruins_

_**Time**__: 10:27 a.m. _

"Hmm…this problem could be more complicated then I thought." Miles "Tails" Prower dug through the engine of his ship, the X-Tornado.

Sonic kicked open the door of Tails' workshop. "Tails!"

"In here!" Tails called back.

Sonic walked over to the ship. "Has Shadow been here?" He demanded.

Tails popped his head out of the ship engine. "I haven't seen him. Why do you ask?"

"There's an All Points Bulletin on him." Sonic snarled.

Tails was shocked. "Why? What did he do?"

"Do you remember hearing about the town of Defell? The town burned after a weapons malfunction in the military base there."

Tails was now confused. "But what does that have to do with Shadow?"

"When I got there, I saw him." Sonic's voice was quiet. "I thought he would help save as many people as we could. But he didn't. I watched him. He stood there, and then… he just started shooting people. I couldn't stop him." His voice hardened. "I will find him, and bring him back so the authorities can deal with him. I thought he was a hero. I guess I was wrong. If you see him, just stay away from him. I'll catch that monster if it's the last thing I do."

With that Sonic turned and stalked away.

**XXXXXX**

Where to go? That was the important question now.

Shadow knew better than to go back to his house. G.U.N. was probably already there, waiting for him. Sonic was hunting him. Sonic had most likely also told Tails what was going on, so he probably shouldn't head to Tails' house; Sonic might even be waiting there for him.

There was one place he might be able to go. If she didn't already know what they were accusing him of.

He arrived at Rouge's nightclub a few moments later and knocked on the door. No one was home. It didn't matter. He carefully picked the lock and opened the door. He closed the door, then walked over and sat down on one of the chairs at the tables on the first floor.

Sonic hadn't believed him. The Commander hadn't believed him. The question now was would his partner and best friend believe him.

* * *

"That was too easy." Rouge grinned as she rubbed a thumb over the jewel-encrusted bracelet she had ... liberated... earlier.

The bat tucked the gold bracelet into her pocket and turned to unlock the door of her club. "I'd say it was a successful night." She chuckled as she re-locked the door and then turned around, and saw Shadow sitting there.

"Shadow?" Rouge was confused. "What are you doing here? And if you're in here, why is my door still on its hinges? You usually just shoot a bunch of Chaos Spears at it and blow it down."

"You don't know, do you?" Shadow asked.

"Know what?" Rouge replied.

So Shadow told her the whole story, including how no one believed him. Then he asked. "So, what do you think?"

Rouge sat down on a chair across from him. "Frankly, I don't know what to think."

* * *

Capt. Westwood was not happy. The commander had chosen him to find Rouge and inform her of what was going on, and he did not savor the idea of doing that.

In due time however, he made it to the nightclub Rouge called home when she wasn't on mission. Inside he found Rouge and Shadow. "Rouge! What are you doing?!?" Jackson demanded.

"Sitting here." Rouge replied nonchalantly. "And Shadow is sitting there. Feel free to take a seat."

"Don't play games with me, Agent Rouge. I think you know why I'm here."

"You always did hate Shadow." Rouge remembered.

Westwood scowled and turned to Shadow. "Shadow the Hedgehog, you are under arrest. Don't worry; I'm sure the Guardian Unit of Nations will give you a fair trial."

"Fair trial!" Shadow jumped to his feet. "The G.U.N. wouldn't know a fair trial if it kicked Prison Island to the moon. Do you know how many times I've been accused of something I haven't done?" With that he turned and dashed down the hall.

"What's back there?!?" Jackson demanded.

"The fire escape." Rouge replied, again nonchalant.

Westwood raced after Shadow, shouting back to Rouge, "Stop him!"

Rouge remained nonchalant. "No, I don't think I will."

Westwood raced to the fire escape, but Shadow was gone.

He stomped back to the living room. "Rouge, I think you need to come to G.U.N. headquarters with me."

**To be continued … **

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**T.A.R.N.S.:** The plot thickens. Tune in next time to see what happens! Thanks to everyone who reviewed, and like I said; you can find bios for my OC's in my profile. They'll be near the bottom of the page.

**Nyoshi:** Please review! We love feedback!

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**End Edit:** The major problem with this story is that after awhile it starts to look like a minor ShadowXOC, and I never, not even the first time I wrote it, wanted it to be that. Oh well, at least it's being fixed now. I hope you found this to be an improvement.


	3. My Perfect Plan

**Crossing the Rubicon**

**Chapter 3**

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_**Location:**__ Guardian Unit of Nations headquarters_

_**Time:**__ 2:45 p.m._

General Nyoshi Kosh, better known as Nyoshi, walked into the main office of the Guardian Unit of Nations. "Sorry I'm late." He he announced to a soldier standing nearby. "What did I miss while I was gone?"

Every head in the room turned to look at him.

Nyoshi looked around quizzically. "What did I say?"

* * *

Rouge remained stoic as she sat in a chair across from the Commander's desk.

"Rouge, Shadow himself told you what he was accused of doing." The commander said. "Why didn't you turn him in?"

"Because I'm not sure I believe these claims." Rouge replied.

The commander sighed. "You think you're the only one who wants to believe he isn't evil? I was certain that after the Black Arms had left, he had changed. It looks like we were both wrong. You are free to go, Rouge, but if you are caught helping Shadow, I will ask you to turn in your G.U.N. badge.

Rouge, who was halfway out the door, pulled out her badge and threw it on the commander's desk. "I'm sorry Commander. I have to do what I think is right."

* * *

Tails had thought it over many times. No matter which way his train of thought went, Tails did not see why Shadow would attack someone without a good reason.

Finally he decided to go to G.U.N. headquarters and see if he could get any information from them.

He ended up taking the Cyclone, as he hadn't gotten the X-Tornado fixed. It took a little over an hour to get there, but maybe he could find what he was looking for.

The two-tailed fox managed to slip by the guards at the gate and entered the building. The main office was nearly empty. Quietly he stepped to Shadow's desk and started looking through it.

"The commander and a bunch of G.U.N. soldiers have looked through there already."

Alarmed, Tails swung around and was immensely relived to see only a cyan blue Yoshi standing there.

"They took everything they thought was worth looking through." The Yoshi went on.

Tails breathed a sigh of relief. "For a minute, I thought I was in trouble. Who are you?" He asked.

"I'm Nyoshi! I part-time here. You don't think Shadow killed all those people, do you? I mean, 'cause you're one of Sonic's friends, and Sonic and Shadow team up alot, so you would know, right?" Nyoshi asked.

_I'm famous!_ "No." Tails replied. "I don't think Shadow would have killed any of those people. Maybe before he got his memories back, but not after. But what are we going to do about it?"

"Let's start by seeing if the G.U.N. Commander and the others missed anything when they went through Shadow's desk." Nyoshi said.

As they went through the desk, Tails asked Nyoshi, "What do you know about this situation?"

"I know that the city of Defell has a military base. A weapons malfunction blew up the base and caused most of the town to be burned to the ground. I recently found out that G.U.N. also suspects Shadow of having something to do with that weapons malfunction." Nyoshi said. "Why, did I miss something?"

"Well, according to what Sonic told me, Shadow was there, shooting some of the people who lived there." Tails told him. "Now he's on the run from…well…everyone."

Nyoshi whistled. "Worse than I thought."

"Well I didn't find anything. How about you?"

Nyoshi shook his head. "Nada. I'll look through it again later, though. Maybe there's something we missed."

As he turned to leave, Tails said thoughtfully, "According to Sonic, Shadow insists he had nothing to do with what happened in Defell, He denied being there. I wonder why Sonic didn't believe him."

* * *

_**Location: **__Rouge's Club_

_**Time**_ _10: 56 p.m._

Shadow Chaos Controlled inside the building. He'd have to stop using his Chaos powers until he got his emerald back. Despite the fact he had the ability to store and utilize Chaos power, he was running low on it. Rouge was sitting in the same chair she'd sat in earlier; her back to him.

"You shouldn't be here, you know." She said. "They probably have this place under surveillance."

"Zelda, I didn't attack those people." Shadow said.

"I know." She replied.

"But do you believe me?"

"Yes." Rouge said quietly. "Yes I do."

Shadow nodded and turned to leave.

"You may want this." The bat held up the blue Chaos Emerald, which Shadow took.

"Thanks." Shadow said, and then he warped away.

**XXXXXX**

_**Location:**__ unknown_

_**Time:**__ 11:00 p.m._

He smiled. His plan was working better than he had hoped. Sonic and G.U.N. and the I.G.A.S. no longer believed in Shadow. There were three that still did, though. That two-tailed fox, bat, and stupid Yoshi still believed that Shadow was innocent.

Oh well. He was sure that would change.

**To Be Continued …**

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**10-15-09 Edit**: Well, this chapter is all nice and repaired. Onto the next.


	4. Enter Team Chaotix

**Crossing the Rubicon**

**Chapter 4: Enter Team Chaotix**

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_**Location:**__ Team Chaotix Detective Agency headquarters _

_**Time:**__ 8: 15 a.m. _

Charmy Bee buzzed around the kitchen, getting out a bowl and spoon, and cereal and milk.

Vector the Crocodile was sitting at the kitchen table, and about to open the morning newspaper. He popped the rubber band off it, and then spread it out on the table.

Plastered across the headlines was the story of how Shadow the Hedgehog had attacked the city of Defell, and was now wanted by the Guardian Unit of Nations.

"I see you read the headlines." Espio the Chameleon noticed as he walked into the kitchen and observed the strange look on Vector's face.

"Shadow would not do that." Vector replied. "And we all know it. But do you know what this means?"

"Oh boy, a new mystery!" Charmy said gleefully.

Espio sighed, a long, exaggerated sigh, and began his mental preperations for the new insanity his team members were concoccting.

* * *

_**Location:**__ Rouge's Club_

_**Time:**__ 9: 47 a.m._

Rouge loitered around her club that morning. The commander had put her on temporary leave, so there was no reason to go to work. She'd tried to call Sonic or Tails, but there was no answer.

She had just finished breakfast when she heard knocking on her door. "Come in, it's open!" she called.

But she hadn't expected to see Sonic come in. And she was completely unprepared for what came next.

"I heard you helped Shadow." Sonic began.

"Yes." Rouge replied evenly.

"How could you help him," Sonic demanded, unable to hold it back any longer. "After what he did?"

"How do you know Shadow was the one shooting those people?" Rouge asked.

Sonic bristled. "I know what I saw."

"How do you know it wasn't someone who looked like Shadow?" Rouge went on.

"I know what I saw." Sonic repeated. "And you haven't told me why you helped him."

"Shadow is my best friend. He's helped me before. Now I'm helping him" The bat replied.

"Rouge, you're going to get into trouble. Next time he comes here, just turn him in."

Rouge scowled. "Let me ask you something, Sonic the Hedgehog. What if you thought that, instead of seeing Shadow, you thought you saw Tails? What would you do then? What if it had been Knuckles? Would you have stood by him? Shadow is my friend, and I have to do what I think is right."

Now it was Sonic's turn to scowl. "Fine, help the monster. But don't say I didn't warn you."

"Ooh," Rouge was so angry she couldn't speak. Instead, she turned and ran from the room.

* * *

If only Sonic would listen to reason. Tails needed to find someone Sonic would listen to. Then it hit him: Knuckles! If anyone could make Sonic listen, it would be Knuckles.

Tails had finally fixed the X-Tornado, so he decided to fly it to Angel Island.

**xXx**

_**Location: **__Angel Island, A.K.A. Floating Island _

_**Time:**__ 12:23 p.m._

Knuckles was leaning against the Master Emerald, dozing in the warm sunlight, when the sound of a jet engine woke him up. Looking up, he saw the X-Tornado come in for a landing.

A moment later, Tails jumped out of the plane and raced to the shrine of the Master Emerald. "Knuckles!" he called.

"What's wrong, Tails?" Knuckles asked.

Tails took a deep breath, and then blurted out the whole story; how Shadow had been accused of a crime he claimed not to have committed, how Tails himself was convinced Shadow was innocent, but Sonic didn't believe him.

Finally he stopped, and looked at Knuckles.

"What do you want me to do?" Knuckles asked.

"Come back with me and see if you can convince Sonic to start looking at other possibilities." Tails replied.

Knuckles stood up. "I'll come with you, but I don't know how you expect me to do that."

* * *

Sonic had left, but when Rouge heard another knock on the door, she swung it open; more than ready to rat Sonic out for what he had said.

Instead of Sonic, though, it was the Team Chaotix.

"Hello," Rouge said a little uncertainly. She vaguely remebered these three as showing up from time to time to help Sonic and the others.

"You may have heard what Shadow is being accused of…" Vector began, but Espio cut in.

"She's his partner. Of course she's heard."

"Anyway," Vector continued, "We're investigating the charges, and we'd like to know what you have been doing the last couple of days."

Rouge considered it a moment, then let them into the building. She lead the way through the club back to her private quarters.

As they all took seats in the living room, Vector began. "Start by telling us everything you can remember about yesterday."

Rouge took a deep breath and then started. "Well, yesterday after breakfast I went to see ...a freind. I'd already arranged to have the day off, but I didn't tell anyone where I was going. I came back, and found Shadow sitting on the couch."

"Did he break in?" Vector asked.

"No. He has a key. Anyway, he told me what had happened, and how he'd been accused of doing it. Then Captain Westwood burst in, and Shadow left." Rouge continued.

Then she went on to tell them about her visit to G.U.N. headquarters, how Shadow had come back later, and then ended by telling how she had given him the blue Chaos Emerald.

When the Chaotix had all the information they thought they could get from Rouge, they stood up to leave.

"We'll be in touch." Espio told her as they left. "Next person we're trying to find is Sonic."

"There's a yoshi general of sorts named Nyoshi who's been working with G.U.N. for the last few months. You might try him when you're done with Sonic." Rougea suggested. "He may be able to help you."

* * *

Sonic had been rather upset after he left Rouge's club, and decided to go out for a run. Rouge was going to get herself into a lot of trouble is she kept defending Shadow like this. He had thought Shadow had changed, too, but apparently not. Someone had to pay for the lives that were lost in Defell.

It was in this pleasant state of mind that he nearly ran straight into Shadow. For a long moment, the two hedgehog did nothing but stare at each other; Sonic's gaze full of angry, Shadow's cool and impassive. Then Sonic finally spoke,"I'm turning you over to the Guardian Unit of Nations."

Shadow nodded. "I know."

Infuriated, Sonic, in a repeat of a morning ago, kicked Shadow and attacked him with a Sonic Wind, when he realized something.

"Why aren't you fighting back?" he asked.

"What's the point?" Shadow wanted to know as he rolled to his knees. "You don't believe me. I can count on one hand the number of people who do. Eventually you'll catch me and hand me over to the G.U.N. So what is the point of me fighting back?"

Sonic was about to say something when he was interrupted by the drone of helicopters.

"Well, what do you know?" He asked. Shadow didn't move. "There's G.U.N. now.

**To Be Continued …**

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**10-15-09 Edit**: I forgot to say this earlier but Yoshis belong to Nintendo. I love Yoshis, which is why I have a yoshi character. Onto chapter four.


	5. What Sonic Saw

**Crossing the Rubicon**

**Chapter 5: What Sonic Saw**

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* * *

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The helicopters came in for a landing, and several G.U.N. soldiers emerged. "Shadow the Hedgehog," one of them began, "you are under arrest…"

Shadow cut in before he could finish. "I know." He held out his hands.

Sonic watched as Shadow was handcuffed and none to kindly dragged into the helicopter, then he took off and resumed running. There was nothing that made him so angry as citizens being gunned down in cold blood, but this, coming from someone he'd thought to be his freind, was so much worse.

Nevertheless, he couldn't escape the nagging doubt in the back of his mind that Maybe there was more to this situatuion than he thought.

* * *

_**Location:**__ Tails' workshop, Mystic Ruins_

_**Time:**__ 3:00 p.m._

Tails brought the X-Tornado down for a smooth landing and turned it off. Then he and Knuckles got out. As they walked towards the house, Tails asked Knuckles, "What now?"

"First I'm getting lunch. Then I'm going to try and find my old freinds, the Team Chaotix." Knuckles said.

**XXXXXX**

_**Location: **__Team Chaotix Detective Agency Headquarters_

_**Time:**__ 3:55 p.m._

The Team had been unable to find Sonic, so per Rouge's suggestion, they had found Nyoshi. In a desperate attempt to help his friend, Nyoshi had told them everything he could about the last couple of days. Nothing he had said could really be used against G.U.N.'s claims, but at least they had tried. Maybe they could use Nyoshi's testimony as character evidence.

Espio had learned long ago that when both of your teamates were insane, it usually fell to the sane one to do most of the work. Quietly grumbling to himself, he leaned back in his chair and mentally went back over the past three days.

September 8. That was the night a weapons malfunction had destroyed the city of Defell.

September 9. Shadow had been accused of killing many citizens of the city.

September 10. That was today.

Espio's reverie was broken when Vector poked his head in the door. "Shadow has been arrested for the murder of twenty-eight people from the city of Defell."

The purple chameleon nodded. Vector left, closing the door behind him. As soon as he was gone, Espio resumed thinking.

September 10. Today. Shadow had been arrested by the Guardian unit of Nations for murder.

Espio shook his head. G.U.N. would love slapping Shadow with a murder charge.

Deciding some meditation would be helpfully, he closed his eyes and began to relax. As he did, his communicator rang. "What's the world coming to when a guy can't even meditate in his own room in peace?" Espio muttered darkly as he picked up the communicator and clicked it on.

Nyoshi's face filled the screen. "I thought of one more thing." Nyoshi told him. "I don't think it'll help, but I wanted you to know it."

"Go on." Espio told him.

"Well, before I went home, I stopped at the Cocoa City library to pick up a book another Yoshi asked me to get him. While I was there, I saw Shadow." Nyoshi said.

"What time did you see him?" The chameleon asked.

"About 7:45, I think." Nyoshi said. "He was checking the books he had out as I came in."

Espio thought it over. There was nothing there that could help them. "Well, thanks for telling me." He finally said.

"Anytime." Nyoshi said, and then the screen went dark.

Espio leaned back in his chair again. As far as he could see, the only way they could get Shadow off with a lighter sentence was to discredit the G.U.N. soldiers who had supposedly seen Shadow at Defell. That would be easy enough to do, given how many time G.U.N. had accused Shadow of something he hadn't done.

It would be harder, though, to discredit Sonic. And since Shadow had nearly helped destroy the earth once, that would add an unknown factor.

Vector was gunning this case, hoping it would attact attention - and more than a few customers - to the agency. Espio just hoped it didn't blow up in thier faces.

* * *

_**Location:**__ Guardian Unit of Nations base_

_**Time:**__ 4:59 p.m._

Shadow was sitting in the interrogation room, where he'd been sitting for the last three hours.

He'd the same questions thrown at him for the last three hours. Some of them he could answer, others he could not.

Mainly, he couldn't answer them because he hadn't been to Defell.

Capt. Westwood, his interrogator, was starting to get frustrated. Now he was standing up, putting his face directly in Shadow's, in an attempt to intimidate Shadow; which was not working.

"You do know that as a Mobian you do not have the same rights as a human. Now tell me where you were on the eighth of September." Westwood demanded.

"I told you, I was at home reading." Shadow replied.

"Do you really expect me to believe that?" Westwood asked.

"No." Shadow replied. "You have already made up your mind that I am the guilty one; therefore you refuse to look at other possibilities."

Westwood was fuming. "That was a rhetorical question." He snapped. "If you do not answer the questions, we have the right to, how shall we say, convince you to talk."

Westwood stood up and started walking around the room.

"I've already told you that as a Mobian you do not have the same rights as a human. Now tell me: Where were you on the eighth of September?"

* * *

_**Location:**__ Outskirts of the town of Ethel_

_**Time:**__ 7:00 p.m._

After G.U.N. had taken Shadow away, Sonic had continued his run, frustrated with what had happened to Defell and life in general.

He was approaching the outskirts of the city of Ethel when he heard gunshots. Ever the hero, he turned and raced into the city. What he saw shocked him.

It was almost a replay of what had happened in Defell. There was even a building burning. Just one, though. Not the whole town.

No, what made seem to Sonic like a repeat of the events in Defell was the black and red hedgehog standing in the middle of the street, shooting people at random.

"Shadow?" He asked himself. But G.U.N. had Shadow. Although it was possible that Shadow had used Chaos Control to escape from G.U.N.

But then the hedgehog turned to face Sonic, and in an instant he knew he was wrong.

He had handed a good friend and rival over to the Guardian Unit of Nations on the premise of Shadow's murdering several citizens of the town of Defell.

Sonic had seen it with his own eyes, and assumed it to be true.

But now he knew the truth; he had been dead wrong.

**To Be Continued…**

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**10-15-09 Edit**: You know the drill. It's been fixed. Now, further up and further in.


	6. Meet the Culprit

**Crossing the Rubicon**

**Chapter 6: Meet the Culprit**

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* * *

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_**Location:**__ The city of Ethel_

_**Time:**__ 8:04 p.m._

Truth be told, Sonic had never thought of this possibility.

He stood there for a long time just looking.

He was looking at a robot that looked like Shadow. A Metal Shadow, if you will.

A moment later, all the shock hardened into fury. Fury for being duped by a robot, fury at himself for handing Shadow over to G.U.N., and not believing Shadow in the first place.

He clenched his fists as he thought of what Shadow had said. How no one believed him.

He raced towards the robot, but it warped away again. Sonic slid to a stop and looked around. The robot was gone. The fire department was putting out the fire.

"I'm sorry Shadow." He muttered to the sky. "I'm sorry I didn't believe you. But I'm going to make it up to you, first by finding out who built and controls that robot. And I think I know where to start."

With that Sonic turned and raced away.

**XXXXXX**

Crossing a continent, an ocean, and six time zones was nothing. He was, after all, Sonic the Hedgehog.

Sonic approached Eggman's base and easily defeated the robots guards, and in no time at all he was inside the base. Once inside it only took him 30 seconds to search the whole base and find Dr. Eggman, who was standing at the controls for the base.

"Alright Dr.," Sonic began "I want to know about the robot you built that looks like Shadow."

"Ah, yes, the Metal Shadow. If you're here to destroy it, you're out of luck. Someone stole it right out of my base shortly after I finished building it." Eggman replied.

"Yah?" Sonic was unconvinced.

"I'll show you." Eggman typed a few commands into the keyboard, and called up the security footage from a few days ago.

As Sonic watched the screen, he noticed some kind of sludge go slithering across the ground on one side of the camera, right before the camera went dark.

"All the security went down after that." Eggman said.

"I want a copy of that tape."

Eggman nodded and handed him one.

"Did you know I was coming?" Sonic wanted to know.

"I figured it out after Metal Shadow was stolen and the real Shadow was accused of what happened in Defell. Good luck. We'll fight again. As soon as I finish my doomsday device." Eggman said.

Sonic grinned. "I look forward to it." Then he was gone.

**

* * *

**

_**Location:**__ Prison cell E014, G.U.N. base_

_**Time:**__ 10: 04 p.m._

Shadow gave a small moan as he lay down on the cot .G.U.N. had made good on their unspoken promise to torture a confession out of him.

The last four hours had been heck. But they hadn't gotten him to say anything, something Shadow was reasonably proud off. They could break his body, but not his spirit. If they were ever able to that, he'd be in trouble.

He closed his eyes and wished he knew what Rouge was doing.

**XXXXXX**

_**Location:**__ Team Chaotix Detective HQ_

_**Time:**__ 10: 59 p.m._

It was late when Knuckles caught up to the Team Chaotix. Vector had quickly filled him on what they knew, which, they were sorry to say, wasn't much.

Knuckles whistled softly. "Sounds pretty bad. And a lot like what Tails already told me. Did you come up with anything new?"

"Nothing," Espio replied.

"We haven't given up, though," Charmy piped up.

"_We_ haven't given up." Espio rolled his eyes.

Vector changed the subject. "Where are you staying while you're down here?" he asked.

"I'm staying with Tails." Knuckles replied. "That reminds me, I gotta get going before he starts wondering what's happened to me. I'll talk to you guys later."

**XXXXXX**

Sonic was a block away from Rouge's clubwhen he started to wonder what to do now. Should he call Rouge, wake her up? Or should he wait until morning and talk to her then?

He dismissed the last possibility. The treasure hunter would never forgive him if he didn't tell her what he knew.

That was why he was banging on the club door now, at 11:59 p.m. The place was closed, which seemed odd for a nightclub, but Rouge was known to keep odd hours. After banging on the door for a good five minutes, Sonic heard the turning of a lock, and stepped back away from the door. Despite the fact that it was one minute to midnight, when she answered the door, Rouge was still dressed.

She opened the door and waited, so Sonic began. "Rouge, I was wrong."

"So you've decided that Shadow is innocent?" She asked.

"No. I know Shadow is innocent. I know who attacked Defell. Because that same…creature attacked the town of Ethel. Who all is helping to prove Shadow innocent?"

"That crazy Yoshi, Tails, Knuckles, and the Team Chaotix." Rouge replied.

"Can you get them over here?" Sonic asked. "They need to know what I found out."

Rouge hesitated for a moment, then opened the door and let Sonic in. She closed the door behind him and pointed to the couch in the living room. "Sit down. I'll call them."

**XXXXXX**

Tails was curled up asleep, his nose tucked between his tails, when the call came. Sleepily he reached for the phone beside his bed. "Hello?"

Tails listened for a moment, and then suddenly became wide awake as he comprehended what Rouge was saying.

"Okay." He replied. "I'll get Knuckles, and we'll come right over."

He hung up the phone and threw off the covers, then slipped his feet into his shoes, and raced downstairs to get Knuckles.

**XXXXXX**

In the job he had, Vector the Crocodile had learned to expect a lot of unexpected things.

One of the things he was not expecting, though, was for the phone to start ringing at 12:15 a.m.

He reluctantly got out of bed and went to answer the phone. "Yah?" was his somewhat surly greeting.

He listened to Rouge, and then told her, "Sure, I'll get the team. We'll come right over."

He hung up the phone and went to start waking up the rest of the team.

**XXXXXX**

Nyoshi, pegged by Rouge as 'that crazy Yoshi,' lived even farther away from civilization than Shadow did. So a communicator going off at 12:30 a.m. was unheard of.

This was probably why some of the other members of the Yoshi clan were giving him nasty looks. No one appreciated the loud, incessant beeping of a communicaor going off outside thier huts at obscene hours of the morning.

Nyoshi grabbed the communicator he'd left outside his hut, grinned sheepishly at the other Yoshis, and then dove behind some bushes to answer it.

"Hello?"

"Nyoshi, how soon can you get to my club?" Rouge wanted to know.

"Pretty quickly if I fly. Blue yoshis can do that. And if you give me directions. Why do you ask?" Nyoshi asked.

"Sonic is here. He says he has undeniable proof that Shadow did not attack Defell."

"What proof?" Nyoshi quickly asked.

"He didn't tell me. He said he wanted everyone who tried to help Shadow here first, and then he'll tell us." Rouge replied.

"Okay, give me directions, and get on my way." Nyoshi decided.

**

* * *

**

It was 2 a.m. when everyone was finally at Rouge's club. After everyone took a seat, Sonic began.

He was standing in front of everyone, and pacing back and forth.

"As I'm sure some of you might no, I saw, or thought I saw, Shadow attacking the city of Defell. Now I… forget it. I'm just gonna get to the point. Eggman built a Metal Shadow, and that was what attacked Defell."

**To Be Continued…**

**

* * *

**

**10-15-09 Edit:** Whew. I'm exhausted. Then again, I did just fix three chapter at once. That might do it to you. If you're reading, please review.


	7. Rescuing Shadow

**Crossing the Rubicon**

**Chapter 7**

**

* * *

**

For a long moment, no one said anything, then Espio spoke up. "Now we have to go get Shadow back from G.U.N."

As if a spell had been broken, everyone jumped to awareness. "Looks like we're gonna break into a G.U.N. base." Sonic said.

"Maybe we should just tell them what Sonic saw. They might let Shadow go." Tails suggested.

The others gave him a nasty look. "Yeah. And Sonic might learn to swim." Rouge pointed out sarcastically.

"They might let him go." Espio spoke up. "But you might want to have a plan B."

"Alright." Sonic stood up. "Well, I'll think of tha tone on the way." He headed for the door. "C'mon, let's go."

No one else moved. Sonic looked at them for a moment. "Okay, I was wrong. But Come On! We have to fix this and find out who was trying to frame Shadow."

With that he left. The others followed him

**

* * *

**

_**Location:**__ unknown_

_**Time:**__ 2: 43 a.m. _

They were starting to figure it out. That could either be good, or it could be bad.

He smiled as he sat in the dark shadows of the room. He could make this work to his advantage.

**

* * *

**

_**Location: **__G.U.N. Base_

_**Time:**__ 4:12 a.m._

"You know," Sonic spoke up. "Four in the morning is an awful hour to be visiting."

Knuckles shrugged. "Well, it was your idea."

"C'mon," Rouge led the way into the base. "We'll talk to the commander first. Maybe he'll listen"

"If not, then there's always plan B." Nyoshi said chipperly as he and the others followed Rouge.

Despite the fact that it was past four in the morning, the G.U.N. commander was at his desk, doing paperwork. A riot had kept him and a group of soldiers busy for most of the night; and he hadn't been back since yesterday morning.

So he was just a little surprised when the Sonic Heroes demanded to see him.

He put down the papers he was working on when they came in. "What can I do for you?" He asked.

"We have proof that Shadow did not attack the city of Defell. Sonic found out that a robot look-alike was the actual culprit." Espio said. "And we'd like it if you released Shadow immediately."

"I didn't know he was here." The Commander said. "Then again, I haven't been here since yesterday morning." He pushed a button on his intercom. "Send Captain Westwood in." he ordered.

Capt. Westwood came in a moment later. "Yes Commander?" he asked.

The Commander looked squarely at Westwood. "Sonic has found proof that Shadow did not attack Defell. Is Shadow here?"

"Yes." Westwood replied.

"Where is he?"

"Cell E014." Westwood replied.

Sonic raced out of the room, with the others close behind. Everyone else followed, except Rouge. For a long moment, she and the Commander just looked at each other.

"I presume this changes everything." Rouge finally said.

"It does." The commander calmly replied. "From now on, we'll be keeping an eye out for this robotic look-alike." Then, without another word, he pulled something out of his desk drawer and tossed it to Rouge. She opened it and saw it was her badge.

"Thank you for your help Commander." The bat said as she stood up. "I'm sure one of us will have apprehended the real culprit within a few days.

The Commander nodded, and she left the room and went to join her friends.

**XXXXXX**

_**Location: **__Cell block E_

_**Time:**__ 5:59 a.m._

"You know," Nyoshi said he trotted along behind Tails through the hall of cell block E, "We never did need to use plan B."

Tails nodded absent-mindedly, keeping his eye on the number beside the cell doors. Suddenly he stopped. "E014," He read. He pulled his communicator out of hammerspace and spoke into it. "I found him."

The others got there a moment later. Rouge picked the lock, and they entered the small cell.

Shadow was still lying on the cot, and Sonic got there first. He cringed when he saw the black hedgehog. "He looks pretty bad," Was her blunt observation.

Espio shook his head at Vector's and Charmy's appalled faces. "To Guardian Unit of Nations, Mobians are not equal to humans, so they do not have the same rights. Sometimes this is what they do- torture the Mobian prisoners to make them confess to whatever they supposedly did."

"I'm sure G.U.N. rather enjoyed torturing Shadow," Rouge snarled. "They've always hated him, and I'm sure there were a few people here with a grudge."

"We'll let's get him out of here." Vector picked up Shadow, and they exited the cell.

Rouge stayed for a moment after everyone was gone. Then she felt a hand on her shoulder. "Don't blame yourself." It was Sonic. "If this was anyone's fault, it was mine."

Rouge sniffed indignantly. "I know."

With that she turned walked out of the cell.

* * *

It was warm here. And safe. He felt like he was floating. But now he was coming back to earth.

Shadow opened his eyes, and was rather surprised to find that he was no longer in the G.U.N. base. It looked like he was back at Zelda's apartment. As he sat up, he noticed a few bandages around his chest and arms.

"Welcome back." It was Sonic. Shadow started to say something, but Sonic interrupted him. "I…I'm sorry. I found out who was really behind what happened in Defell, and it wasn't you. I'm sorry I didn't believe you."

"Apology accepted." Shadow said.

"Now if only Rouge would get over it, I think everyone would be good."

Shadow shrugged and grimaced as he swung his feet onto the floor. This must be one of Rouge's spare bedrooms. "Where is everyone?" He asked as he stood up.

"Rouge is off paying bills or something, Tails and Knuckles are off looking for Metal Shadow- He's the robot that framed you-, the Team Chaotix is talking with the G.U.N. commander about the torturing Mobians thing. Nyoshi went back to G.U.N. HQ for...reasons I don't quite know."

Sonic stood up, also. "I don't know about you, but I'm hungry. Let's go see what Rouge's got in her fridge."

**XXXXXX**

_**Location:**_ Station Square

_**Time: **__8:00 a.m._

Amy Rose was walking home from an early morning trip to the grocery store. "What a time to run out of milk." She muttered as she crossed the street.

As she walked back to her apartment, she noticed that some people were running from something. A moment later, that something came into view.

It was a robot, a robot that looked just like Shadow.

Amy dropped the quart of milk she was carrying and pulled out her hammer. Not for nothing had she tagged along on with Sonic. Although the main reason was just to get closer to him.

She held her hammer high and raced over to the robot. It didn't notice her until it was too late. A few good swings of her hammer later and the robot was done.

The defeated robot was lying on the street. As Amy was wondering what to do with it, the X-Tornado came in for a landing.

Amy squealed and raced over to it; sure that after seeing her defeat the robot, Sonic was ready to propose to her, but was disappointed to see that it was only Knuckles and Tails.

"Amy, you stopped the Metal Shadow." Tails said as he hopped out of the plane. "C'mon Knuckles, let's take this thing back to my workshop.

Now Amy was curios. "What are you going to do with it?"

Tails pointed his thumb at the X-Tornado. "It's along story. If you want to come, we'll tell you on the way."

**XXXXXX**

_**Location:**__ Tail's workshop, Mystic Ruins_

_**Time:**__ 9: 30 a.m._

On the way back, Tails and Knuckles had filled Amy in on what they knew. Now Tails was working on the robot, trying to find out who was controlling it.

Just as Tails was starting to get really annoyed, He found the component he was looking for.

"Got it!" He said gleefully.

"So who's controlling the robot?" Amy asked.

Tails inserted the chip into his computer and quickly downloaded the information. He skimmed through, and as he did, his face fell. "Rats!"

"What?" Knuckles asked as he and Amy joined Tails in front of the computer screen.

"The activator is a registered number, 2039845. I scanned the number, but it's fake!" Tails explained.

**XXXXXX**

Back at Rouge's club, Sonic was watching and re-watching the security footage Dr. Eggman had given him.

Shadow came into the room a few minutes later.

"This is security footage Dr. Eggman gave me." Sonic explained. "All you can see is that black sludge moving near the side of the screen, and that doesn't tell me anything."

Shadow watched the black sludge move past the screen, and one word escaped his lips.

"Mephiles."

**To Be Continued…**

* * *

**10-16-09 Edit:** Round and round and round I go... well, onto Chapter 8. Dang, the stupid align center button isn't working. That bites. Oh well. Further up and further in.


	8. Jumper

**Crossing the Rubicon**

**Chapter 8**

**

* * *

**

_I wish you would step back from that ledge my friend_

_You could cut ties with all the lies you've been living in_

_And if you do not want to see me again, I would understand…_

_-Third Eye Blind, from their song 'Jumper' _

XXX

_**Location:**__ Unknown_

_**Time:**__ 10:00 a.m._

Shadow knew who had framed him.

If Mephiles had a mouth, he would have smiled. Now it was time for him to act. He had laid the ground work for this some time ago.

**XXXXXX**

_**Location:**__ Rouge's club_

_**Time:**__ 10:15_ a.m.

Rouge had gone to get a snack from the kitchen. As she was headed back to her room to keep writing, she heard a knock on the door. She set the granola bar down and went to answer the door. A man was waiting on the other side, and he was holding a business –size envelope.

"I have a delivery for Shadow the Hedgehog. I was told he was here." The man said.

Now the bat was confused. "Well…he is…but …how did you know?" she asked.

The man shrugged. "Lady, it's not my job to ask questions to the people who hire me. It's my job to make sure the stuff gets where it's supposed to go. Now will you sign for this?"

Rouge signed the clipboard, and the guy handed her the envelope. She closed the door, and then headed toward the library where Sonic and Shadow were reviewing the security footage. As she walked, she studied the handwriting on the envelope. It wasn't familiar.

She walked into the library. "Shadow, were you expecting anything?"

Shadow turned around. "No." he said.

"Well, this came for you." She handed Shadow the envelope.

As Shadow took the envelope and opened it, the bat asked Sonic, "Did you figure anything out from the security footage?"

"I didn't; but Shadow says it's Mephiles." Sonic replied.

"Mephiles?!" Rouge exclaimed.

"He's the one." Sonic turned off the computer and stood up, then asked, "What'd ya get, Shads?"

For an answer, Shadow held out the letter. It read:

_Hello Shadow._

_I will assume you have not forgotten me. Did I not tell you the world would betray you? _

_If you wish to meet with me, come to the Caserne Cliffs. You may as well bring your friends. You'd bring them anyways._

_I'll be seeing you…very soon, I'm sure._

_-Mephiles the Dark_

"Wow, does this guy have an ego problem or what?" Sonic wondered.

Before anyone could answer, the front door opened, and Tails, Knuckles, and Amy burst in. "We found the robot, but it had a fake activator number!" Tails said.

"We know who did it." Sonic said.

"Who?" Knuckles asked.

"Mephiles the Dark." Shadow said. He was sitting on the couch in the library, undoing the bandages on his chest and arms.

"Mephiles the Dark? I thought you defeated him." Espio said, his voice devoid of emotion as he walked in through and open window, ignoring the fact that he'd had to walk up the sheer vertical side of building.

"Espio, why did you come in through the window?" Rouge asked.

"It was open." Espio replied. "Besides, I didn't feel like taking the stairs with those other two idiots."

"Well Espio, those other two idiots are your teammates." Vector said as he and Charmy came into the room. "Don't ya think that was alittle uncalled for?"

Espio didn't bother replying. Vector ignored this and went on. "Well, it looks like the Team Chaotix managed to crack this case wide open! We should head back to the agency and see if there's any customers yet!" With that, he turned and headed out the door, followed closely by Charmy.

Espio turned to Shadow and Sonic. "Do you need any help dealing with Mephiles?" He asked hopefully.

"No." Shadow replied shortly.

"We'll let you know if we need it, though." Sonic added.

Espio left a moment later, leaving Rouge, Shadow and Sonic standing in the library.

Without saying another word, Shadow turned and headed for the door.

"Hey, hold on a sec!" Sonic spoke up. "Wait for us, Shads. You can't just go confront this guy alone. At least let us come with you."

**XXXXXX**

_**Location:**__ Caserne Cliffs _

_**Time:**__ 11:14 a.m._

The Caserne Cliffs were on the other side of the island. Located just in front of a cliff jutting out over the ocean, was a building.

"That must be Mephiles' base." Sonic decided.

"No. You think?" Knuckles asked him.

Shadow headed for the base, not waiting for the rest of the Sonic Heroes.

"Hey Shads, wait up." Sonic called as he and the others hurried to catch up with Shadow.

"Stop calling me Shads." Shadow called back.

As the group raced toward the base, they were confronted by hundreds of robot mechs. The group came to an abrupt halt.

Rouge had been flying, and when they were surrounded by the robots, she had a bird's-eye veiw of it. "There must be hundreds of those robots." She said.

"Where'd they all come from?" Amy asked as she pulled out her hammer.

"Most likely from the base." Tails replied. "They're probably here to keep us from getting to Mephiles."

"Well, let's get through them and get Mephiles." Knuckles said.

"Works for me." And with that, Sonic raced towards the robots blocking the entrance. The others followed him.

Shadow, though, had other ideas. As the others plowed through the robots, he slipped away and around to the back of the building.

Behind the building was a large piece of land, a cliff that hung out over the ocean.

Shadow walked out onto it and looked around. "You can come out, Mephiles. I know you're here."

Mephiles, in his crystalline form, slowly came up through the ground. "Hello Shadow," he said.

"Why did you frame me?" Shadow demanded.

"My plan was to frame you, so that world would think you were guilty and accuse you of the crimes. After you had been imprisoned, I planned to offer you a chance to join me and take revenge on the world." Mephiles explained.

"You never did get over the fact that I wouldn't help you take over the world the first time you tried it." Shadow replied.

Mephiles jumped towards Shadow, grabbing the hedgehog's wrists as the force of his jump propelled them both backwards.

Maybe he meant to do it all along. Maybe he forgot they were on a cliff. Maybe it was all part of his plan.

A Shadow struggled to free himself from Mephiles' grasp; the two of them fell of the cliff.

**XXXXXX**

As the robots had been defeated, gradually reducing the them in number; Amy had slipped around to the back of the building.

She was just in time to see Mephiles and Shadow fall over the edge of the cliff, and she did the most logical thing she could think of. She screamed.

On the other side of the building, the group was defeating the last few robots, when the sound of a scream reached Sonic's ears. "That sounds like Amy." Quick as a flash he was around to the other side of the building.

"Amy!" He hurried over to where she was standing. "What happened?" he asked.

Amy pointed to the ocean below. "Shadow and Mephiles. They were fighting, and then they just…fell."

**XXXXXX**

Underwater, Shadow continued to fight Mephiles. Their powers didn't have as much force underwater, but eventually Mephiles was overcome. He vanished from sight a moment later.

Even though Mobians could hold their breath much longer underwater than humans, they still had to breathe.

Shadow looked around. As far as he could see, Mephiles was gone. He tried to swim for the surface, but couldn't. His foot was caught in something. He tried to kick whatever it was away, but he was unable to.

He was starting to run out of air. As his vision started to go black and he felt himself sinking towards the bottom of the ocean, his first thought was that now no one could say he had attacked Defell, now that they knew who had really done it.

His last thought before everything went dark was that he would finally be with Maria.

**To Be Continued…**

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**T.A.R.N.S.: **Oh! Evil cliffy! #is promptly stoned by readers#

**Nyoshi:** Please review and tune in next time to see what happens!

* * *

**10-19-09 edit**: Yeah, I couldn't bear to take my authors notes off down there. Well, onto the last one.


	9. Endings and Epilogues

**Crossing the Rubicon**

**Chapter 9**

**

* * *

**

He was floating again. But there was something there…an incessant beeping. Irritated, he opened his eyes.

He was in a bed. From the looks of things, in a hospital.

Rouge was standing at the foot of the bed. "Well good morning." She told him.

"Rouge? Where am I?" Shadow asked.

"You are in the I.G.A.S. infirmary." A new voice, one he recognized. It was Sonic.

"How did I get here?" Shadow asked.

"Amy saw you and Mephiles fall. So when, we knew what had happened, Tails and Knuckles went and got you, and brought you back to the surface. Then we took you back here. Nyoshi told the commander everything, and he decided to keep you and Rouge." Sonic explained. "And we've been waiting for you to wake up ever since. It took you long enough."

"You were unconscious for two days." Rouge told him.

"That's nice," Shadow replied. "Now how soon can I go home?"

**XXXXXX**

**Epilogue**

_**Location: **__Shadow's house_

_**Time:**__ 9:00 p.m._

_**Date**__: September 15_

Shadow leaned back in his chair and swung his feet onto the ottoman. He picked up the library book he'd started reading four days ago and opened it to where he'd left off.

After everything had been explained, the commander had indeed given him and Rouge thier jobs back, though Rouge had been expecting that to happen since she got her badge back.

The Team Chaotix had been recognized for their part in stopping Metal Shadow and defeating Mephiles, and now numerous people in the city had wanted them to help with some problem or other, leaving the team with more mysteries than they could solve.

Sonic had gone back to his favorite pastimes: running and stopping evil. There were no hard feelings between him and Shadow anymore.

Rouge was doing whatever she did between world-threatening crises; most likely hunting treasure.

Tails had gone back to his workshop, and Knuckles, back to Angel Island. Nyoshi had applied for vacation and was taking the next week off.

Mephiles had not been seen since he fell into the water. But no one doubted he would be back.

The Guardian Unit of Nations had formally apologized to Shadow. Which was nice; they were wrong, had admitted it, and would leave him alone until next time they needed a scapegoat.

The red and black turned the page in his book. So ended this adventure. The world was safe, for now, and he could finish reading his book. Not bad, if he did say so himself.

**Fin**

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**T.A.R.N.S.: **So why is it that I have to nearly kill Shadow before I get reviews? Oh well. I'll take what I can get. XD And thus ends this one. I rather liked this story, it seemed to have a better plotline than some of my other fics. But all good things must come to an end. Please R&R, because Reviews are always appreciated.

L8R!

* * *

**10-19-09 Edit:** Hallelujah, revision is finally done. Hey, I can actually spell hallelujah. Well, please R&R. I'll appreciate it.


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